The NZ Transport Agency’s bridge building projects in Northland have achieved another milestone with the opening of a new bridge at Matakohe to one-way traffic.
It follows the opening of the new two-lane bridge at Taipa to one-lane traffic on February 15.
At Matakohe, the new two-lane bridge to replace the old Anderson Bridge opened to traffic at 1pm, with east-bound vehicles also travelling for the first time along 1.2km of the new State Highway 12 alignment.
At a dawn blessing, Te Uri O Hau kaumatua Hone Martin gave the new bridge its name Te Ao Marama Hou which means “moving from the past into the future”.
The new alignment and bridge are unsealed and may to be closed again to protect the road surface if there’s bad weather associated with Cyclone Oma, NZTA project delivery senior manager Chris Hunt says.
“At this stage the bridge and alignment are only open to one-way traffic, heading east,” he says.
“We urge motorists to drive with caution over the new alignment, don’t be distracted by the new environment and keep to the temporary speed limit.”
West-bound traffic will continue to follow the signposted detour just before Anderson Bridge and travel along Matakohe East Road before re-joining SH12.
Starting the week of March 4, the new highway alignment will be extended another 600 metres towards the second new bridge that will replace Hardies Bridge.
The two new two-lane bridges and 2.5km road realignment will remove tight curves and short straights to improve safety on this section of the Twin Coast Discovery Route.
The $26 million project is expected to be completed mid-2019.
